Ramgn febres cordero



(No Model.)

R. F.' CORDERO. APPARATUS POR WASHING SUGAR.

No. 456,799. Patented July 28, 1891.

ry I ms Parras co., woruwo., wAsHlNurou u c UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

RAMN FEBRES CORDERO, OF RUBIO, VENEZUELA.

APPARATUS FOR WASHING SUGAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 456,799, dated July 28,1891..

Application filed August 9, 1890. Serial No. 361,510. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom 25 may concern. y

Be it known that I, RAMN FEBRES OOR- DERO, of Rubio, section ot Tachira,State of Los Andes, UnitedStates of Venezuela, South America, haveinvented anew and uset'ullrnprovernentin Apparatus for Vashing Sugar,

of which the following is a full, clear, and

exact description.

This invention relates to the washing of sugar by alcohol; and itconsists in apparatus of special construction for the purpose, wherebythe saine alcohol that has been used for Washing one charge of sugar isretained or inade to circulate Within the apparatus for washing asucceeding charge or charges of sugar with but little or no Waste of thealcohol, substantially as hereinafter described, and more particularlypointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part ofthis specilication, in which the figure represents a vien7 inperspective of an apparatus for Washing sugar embodying my invention.

A indicates a boiler surmounted by a chest b, in which, by a suitableapplication of heat, the molasses extracted from the sugar, diluted withthe alcohol and Water used in the washing of the sugar by the alcohol,is boiled.

B is a trapping-chamber connect-ed with the chest b by a pipe c, bywhich the molasses While boiling is prevented from entering or rising upa pipe or uptake cl from the trap,

which pipe d conveys the alcoholic and watery vapors to the coil c ofthe first one C of a pair of stills or condensers C D. This coil orWorrn e, with the upper end of which the pipe d connects, is joined atits lower end to a pipef, having a trap-like bend g below and providedwith cocks 7m forreturning the alcohol of low grade to the trap-likevessel B.

The Worm c of the condenser C is connected at dilerent points in itsheight by cocks 7c With a pipe Z, that connects with the upper end ofthe Worm m of the condenser D to allow the alcohol of high gracieto passto said Worm on. The condensers C D are charged with cold Water outsideof their coils to effect the necessary condensation of the alcohol inboth coils. The water is supplied to said condensers by a pipe 'n andcocks o o,.\vl1icl1 pipe is further used to supply the holler A withWater by a pipe p, controlled by a cock q, and to admit Water to thecoils e m, when required, by cocks r i'. The bottoms of the condensers CD are tted with outlet-pipes s s, controlled by cocks t, for dischargingthe Water exterior of the coils in said condensers, when necessary.

E is a receiver for the alcoholtroin the coil m of the condenser D onopening a cock 'o for the purpose. This receiver, which is provided Withan air-escape hand-valve w, is connected at its bottom by a pipe a',controlled by a cock o', With the upper portion of a receptacle E, whichprovides for the discharge of the alcohol from the receiver E into it,the cocks c and b regulating the flow, and an air-pipe c', having a cockd', providing for the passage ot' air between the two vessels E F.

G is a conically-shaped vessel, into which the sugar to be Washed by thealcohol is placed and which receives its supply of'alcohol from thereceptacle E by means of a pipe connection c betweenthem, provided witha cock f', which regulates the How of the alc0- hol, and furtherprovided with a cock g for admitting cold or hot air to make theoperation of Washing the sugar more or less rapid.

The sugar-Washing cone or vessel G is iitted With an air-tight cover h',which may be fastened down by screw-bolts. At the lower end of saidvessel is a discharge-tube i', having a glazed upper section k forinspecting` the Washing process While in progress. charge-tube t" has alower cock Z for removing all impurities from the sugar-Washing cone bGwhen cleaning it, and said tube c" is connected above said cock withpipes m n', having cocks o. The one or" these pipes m serves, on openingits cock o', to convey the molasses produced in Washing the sugar by thepercolation of the alcohol through the mass in the cone G to a tank K,and the other one n ot said pipes connects with a suctionpump U, thatWhen the cock o in said pipe is opened draws upon the cone G to extractthe air or vapor charged With alcohol and by a discharge-pipe p todeliver the saine to a receptacle l to be Washed. Applied to thedischarge-pipe p is an odor-detector fr', to which the nose may beapplied to ascertain whether the alcohol has or has notbeen sepalOOrated` from the sugar. At the top of the Washer I, and connecting itwith another like receptacle J, and dipping down into the latter is apipe s for receiving the air from which the alcohol has been separated,and applied to the receptacle J is a cock t for allowing the airseparated from the alcohol to escape into the atmosphere and keep theoutside air from entering when the apparatus is not at work. A cockconnection fn serves to pass deposited matter in the receptacle orwasher I to the receptacle J, and w is a pipe provided with a cock fordischarging the same into the tank K. A pipe yy from the tank K,controlled by a cock a', delivers the molasses collecting in the tank Kinto the boiler A. Said boiler is fitted with a discharge-cock d2 forthe emptying of the molasses and all impurities from it, also with acock h2 for the discharge of air from the boiler when the latter isbeing charged, and with a gage c2, having the usual cocks forascertaining the condition of the charge in the boiler at any time. l

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The cone or sugar-washingvessel G is rst illed with the sugar to be washed,press ure beingapplied to the sugar as the lilling proceeds. When said vessel is fullit should be covered with a piece of canvas and over this a piece ofwire-cloth put, to uniformly distribute the alcohol employed in washingthe sugar. The cover 7i is then screwed down. Alcohol of about 38o isthen passed into the receptacle F by entering it through the cock w ofthe receptacle E and opening the connection between said receptacles.The cock f is then opened to discharge the alcohol over and cause it topermeate or percolate through the sugar in the cone until it reaches theglazed upper section of the discharge-tube fi. The cock o of the pipe mis then gradually opened, so that, without making the sugar run, themolasses washed out of the sugar will be delivered by the alcohol intothe tank K, the opening of the cocks f ando being proportioned to effectthis. The liow of the alcohol through the sugar is continued until it isseen through the glazed inspecting-section k of the tube t" that thedischarging alcohol contains no more molasses. Then the cocks f and oare closed and the air-cock g and cock o of the pipe n opened, so thatby means of the pump U the air, cold or hot,

admitted through the cock g is continued to be sucked by said pump untilby applying the nose to the detector?a no alcohol is smelled. The airthus charged with alcohol extracted by the pump U passes by the pipep tothe washer or receptacle I, and passing through the water in saidreceptacle it leaves the alcohol behind and passes by the tube s downinto the second washer or receptacle J to insure a more perfect freedomfrom alcohol, and from whence, after passing through the water in saidreceptacle J, it escapes by the cock lt into the atmosphere, entirelyfreed from alalcohol and water, is subjected to the action of heat, andascending by the chest b passes to the trapping-chamber B, and in duecourse is returned again by the pipe 'y' to the boiler. The vaporsascending by the pipe d to the coil e of the condenser C pass down-thatis, those of low graduation-by the tubef and its bend g to thetrappingchamber B, and those of high graduation by either of the cocks7c, at will, through the tube l, to the coil m of the condenser D, carebeing taken before doing this to open the cocks o o and it, so as toestablish a current of cold water through both condensers. The cooledalcohol is passed from the last condenser D to the receiver E, and fromthence to the chamber F, the cock d being opened so as to pass air tothe receptacle F, from whence the alcohol is taken, the cocks b and fbeing opened to the cone G, to wash or act again upon the newly-chargedsugar therein.

Applied to the worm e of the condenser C is a cock d2 for ascertainingwhether there is any alcohol remaining in the worm of the condenser, andif so the molasses in the boiler A should be emptied, to be used as mostconvenient, either by fermenting the same or transforming it into sirup.

Steam or other heating medium may be used for getting up the necessaryheat in the apparatus.

The operations of washing the sugar and distilling or condensing thcalcohol may be kept up in rapid succession, so that when the washing ofone charge of sugar is being made the alcohol employed in a precedingwashing is separated from the molasses.

By washing the sugar with alcohol much labor will be saved as comparedwith the ordinary clay process and larger returns than by the usualmethods, including the turbine, because the sugar is insoluble in thealcohol, and a better quality of sugar is obtained, inasmuch as alcoholis a better solvent of molasses than water, it having the advantage ofnot acidulating the sugar, and does not transform the sugar into starch.

The using of the same alcohol over and over again, as my improvementprovides for, does away with t-he great objection heretofore experiencedof washing the sugar with alcohol, inasmuch as there will be very littleloss of alcohol.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure bv Letters Patent, is-

l. In an apparatus for purifying sugar with alcohol, the combination,with the closed sugar-receiving cone or vessel having valved air andalcohol inlets at its upper end and a valved outlet-pipe at its lowerend, of an airsuction pump having a valved connection with the saidoutlet-pipe above its valve, a pipe p ,leading from the pump and havinga detector r, and a trapping device into which the air is discharged bysaid pipe p and provided with a valved outlet for the air, and a tankbelow and into which said trapping de vice discharges, substantially asset forth.

2. In an apparatus for purifying sugar with alcohol, the combination,with the closed sugar-receiving cone or vessel having valved air andalcohol inlets at its upper end, and a valved outlet-pipe at its lowerend, provided with a glass section la', of an airsuction pump, a valvedpipe n', connecting said pump with said outlet-pipe above its valve, apipe p', leading from the air-pump and provided with a detector r, and atrap into which the pipe p' dips to free the air from alcohol,substantially as set forth.

3. In a sugar-purifying apparatus, the coinbination, with thesugar-receiving cone or vessel, an alcohol-supply receptacle having avalved connection with the upper end of said cone or vessel, an outletat the lower end of the cone or vessel provided with a glass section, aboiler in a lower plane than the said outlet, connections between saidoutlet and boiler, of an alcohol-condensing apparatus above the boiler,a vapor-pipe leading from the boiler to the condenser and provided witha trap between the two, and a valved pipe connecting the condenser withthe alcoholsupply receptacle, substantially as set forth.

4. In a sugar apparatus, the alcohol-condensers comprising the twowater-vessels C D, the water-supply therefor, a coil of pipe in eachtank, a vertical pipe l between the two tanks and connected at its upperend with the upper end ol' the coil in the tank D, and valvedconnections k, at different heights,with the pipe l, and the coil in thetank C, substantially as described.

5. In a sugar apparatus, the combination, with the boiler forcontainingthe molasses and alcohol, a dome or chest l) on top of theboiler, and the trapping-vessel B, and the curved pipe C, connecting theupper ends of the chest and vessel B, of a condensing ap paratus abovethe trapping-vessel and having a worm e, a pipe d, connect-ing the upperends of the vessel I3 and worm e, pipe fg, connecting the lower end ofWorm c and upper end of vessel I5, and an alcohol-tank in to which thealcohol is delivered from said condensing apparatus, substantially asdescribed.

Witnesses:

C. Supe-wrok, EDGAR TATE.

